The Art of Revenge
by Dark Dragon Queen of Death
Summary: This is a story about different mothers. Ruby in particular. Instead of Summer actually being her mother, its actually Cinder and Summer finds Ruby and ends up raising her as her own! See what happens to her in this story!


**Fourth story posted on this day! This one is probably one of the only ones that is not finished.**

 **Those that notice the end of every chapter will notice a time stamp on the chapters, there is no time stamp on this one.**

 **Please let me know what you think, I thought it would be a good idea at the time when I wrote it.**

 **Chapter 1**

The sound of flames roaring in a silent night. The town that was known as "Patch" is now but a paradise turned horror. Someone walked through the flames and examined the ruins of what the villagers used to call home. This woman wore a white cloak and a silver helmet that covered her face. As the women wondered, she heard cries. _A child? How could a child survive this burning inferno?_ The woman thought. She walked closer to where she heard the crying. What she saw, shocked her. It was a single baby, protected by an ancient barrier with mysterious symbols on it.

"This is… from the ancients? This child must be important if the ancients are willing to protect her… but… who's child are you?" the woman cleared away the beams that were held up by the barrier. She reached into the barrier and picked up the baby. It was girl with black wolf ears that had red tips. Canines as red as blood and as sharp as razor blades. Nails, as black as night, pointed and sharp like claws. Even the toe nails were pointed and sharp like claws.

The woman looked around. _Whatever or whoever did this must be long gone… everyone here must be dead as well… There is no way anyone could have survived this inferno… this puts me in a tough spot… a child that is protected by the ancients needs to be protected… but I am not her mother… yet… her mother might be dead for all I know… wait, there is something within the ashes she laid in…_ the woman reached down and picked up a chain with a name tag on it. The name said 'Ruby Reaper Fall' on it.

"So… that's your name… I guess I do know your mother… but I don't know where she is… She went missing… I'll raise you as my own… I'll also be looking for her so you may be reunited with her…" Ruby stopped crying and opened her eyes. One eye was silver while the other was Amber with a crimson red tint to it. She smiled and giggled. The woman sighed happily and started to walk away with Ruby wrapped in a red cloak that she had found on the ground covered in soot.

After the woman had left, another woman got out of the rubble, holding her arm in pain.

"Ruby! Ruby where are you?!" the woman yelled out in fear and anger. "Damn it… They must have taken her away from me… those bastards! I wonder if anyone is still alive… HELLO? IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE?!" the woman yelled. Beams moved to reveal three figures. Two men and a little blonde girl.

"Daddy, where did mommy go?"

"I don't know little dragon… she must have gone after them… I'm sure mommy will be back soon… I hope…"

"Taiyang?" the woman coughed and sauntered towards the three. "Is that you?"

"Cinder? Yeah! It's me… are you and the little gem okay?"

"I don't know… I can't find her… I can't hear her crying… at first I did… but then… I passed out… when I came to… her cries had stopped… Taiyang, I have no idea what happened her…"

"Considering that you were also caught in this attack… I doubt it was you…" the other man stated. Cinder glared at him.

"After all this time, you think I would harm my own child?! How dare you think that Qrow!"

"Qrow, now is not the time for old hatred… Ruby is missing…"

"Ruby is gone?!" the little girl cried.

"Yes, Yang… Someone may have taken her… it might be _them_ …"

"I was thinking the same thing…" Cinder growled a bit and her hands were engulfed in flames.

"Cin, calm down… We'll find her… considering what has happened here, maybe someone sent us a Huntsmen or even a Huntress…"

"But who would they send?"

"Hmm… the only one I could think of that might be available… Would be Summer…"

"If Summer did find her, it would put me a little at ease… not much but a little… I'm going to make whoever did this pay dearly for what they have done…"

"Cinder… don't go back to your old ways… it won't end well…"

"Qrow… I won't do that… I'm going to have my old contacts collect information… that's it… don't worry…"

"For the record, I'm sorry if I did imply that you had something to do with this place turning into an inferno…"

"Thanks Qrow… I understand why though… after what I almost did… I can't really blame you… but remember… I'll do anything to get my baby back…"

"I know… good luck… Cinder… and stay safe… and try not to break any laws this time! Alright?" Qrow joked. Cinder smiled a bit before running off. _I hope to Oum that Summer was the one dispatched to Patch… if not… there will be hell to pay for taking my child…_ Cinder thought.

 ** _Back with the woman_**

The woman walked into an old cottage looking house in the middle of a snow filled forest. She closed the door and cradled Ruby tightly.

"You're going to be reunited with your mom… I'll make sure of it… little one…" Ruby looked at the woman with curiosity. "I'm a friend of your mom! I am Summer Rose! It's nice to meet you there, little Ruby!" Ruby smiled and giggled. Summer smiled softly. _I am going to be making a lot of calls… hopefully someone knows where Cinder went…_ Summer thought.

 ** _5 years later_**

Ruby was sitting outside on the snow looking up into the sky. She had short hair that was black with red tips. She wore a red t-shirt and black shorts with a long flowing red cloak flowing behind her in the wind. She had grown a lot. Summer came out of the cottage and sighed seeing Ruby.

"Ruby, you need to come inside… its freezing out there…" Ruby groaned and pouted.

"But Auntie Summer… it doesn't bother me… at all… why can't I stay out here… you trained me how to fight a bit, you've taught me a bit about weapon designs, almost everything in history, everything on using Dust, and everything on Grimm… what else is there to learn?"

"Everything in the world, leadership, working well with others, not being so quiet when I try to have a conversation with you…"

"Summer…" Ruby whined. Summer sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Ruby, your mother would be very angry with me if she finds out I let you sit out in the cold and actually caught a cold… besides… I need to teach you more… alright?"

"Fine… but I won't like it…" Ruby got up. She had bone plates on top of her feet. Her feet were bare. She wore a vambrace on both wrists. She walked towards Summer. Her ears pointed up. This went on for a couple more years, Summer would teach Ruby everything she knew as a Huntress. Until one day, when Ruby was ten, Summer went out on a mission. Ruby waited and waited. Summer never came back. When she was about 13 years old, Ruby gave up on waiting.

Ruby was not the same after that. Summer was her Aunt from the stories Summer had told her about her and her mother. They were very close to each other. Ruby walked into Summer's room in the cottage, she saw Summer's helmet and a note.

 _Ruby,_

 _If I do not return, please understand. The mission I'm on is mandatory and I couldn't say no… I wish I could have had that option. It would have given me more time to search for your mother… please do not hate me… This mission will last for however long it takes… I am on this mission permanently… well… until I hear otherwise… but please, do not wait for me… you'll be hurt more if you do… I am so sorry… But here is something I'm sure you'll love! I want you to go out into the world, travel to Vale… I taught you how to know where to go and knowing about the four/eight/sixteen directions…_

 _I want you to use what I have taught you, and go to Vale… its south of here… very far south… I believe you will make it… I have faith that you will make it… make your weapon or weapons that I had collected the materials for you… You may have my helmet, it should be comfortable with your ears! There is also something that your mother had given me, I want you to have it so you have something to remember her by. It's a silver cross._

 _Please take good care of it and yourself. Sadly, I do not have a picture of your mother… Good luck little flower. Be proud that you are named Ruby Reaper Fall-Rose._

 _From,_

 _Summer Rose_

 _P.s. I added in that last part of your name because I think of you as my own daughter! I hope you don't mind, now live on little one!_

Ruby smiled a bit. A fang poking out of her mouth. _She didn't leave me behind after all… That's good to know! I'm happy! But she must have left this three years ago… good thing I've already made my weapons and all that… I'll find my mother…_ Ruby thought. She put on the helmet and made sure it was snug on her head. She reached in the drawer and pulled out a small Celtic cross that was red and black. She quickly put it on.

Ruby now wore jeans with obsidian-scaled plating on her thighs. A black t-shirt with reinforced chest plates. A red cloak with obsidian-scales on the shoulders and silver cross clips to keep it attached to her shirt. Black silver-plated combat boots with red souls and straps. Black fingerless silver-armoured gauntlets that tightly fit and went up to her elbows bend. A black belt with a silver rose on the buckle. A necklace of a silver Celtic cross tied around her neck.

Ruby grabbed a black case and attached it to her back. She attached two swords to her waist. Ruby took a deep breath before leaving the cottage. This was the last time she would ever see this place again. She walked through the strong blizzard. It was hard to see three feet in front of her. Thanks to the helmet, she could at least see where she was going without the snow getting in her eyes. She was thankful to have grabbed Dust vials before heading out along with some food. Sadly, the food wouldn't last her long.

 ** _Two years later_**

Ruby had finally made it to the Emerald forest. She run out of Dust, and barely ate anything. Summer had taught her that sometimes, during a mission, food would easily run out so not eating a lot would mean less energy. Training your body to get used to not eating a lot was the best solution if you were unable to get enough for an entire meal three times a day. A hard lesson, but Ruby had managed. She saw a group of people arguing with each other.

"You can't choose which one of us is going to be your partner, Weiss!" a blonde girl yelled at a girl in white.

"You can't tell me what the fuck I can and can't do Yang!" the girl in white snapped back. The girl in black was pinching the bridge of her nose in irritation.

"Weiss, Yang and I made eye contact with each other first… you can't choose which of us will be your partner since it's already been decided…"

"Stay out of this Blake!" Weiss snapped at her. Blake just shook her head and saw Ruby.

Ruby looked like she had been through hell. She was hungry, tired, thirsty, and fatigued from having to walk through hordes of Grimm for two years trying to get to Vale. She took one step closer to them to ask them if she was in Vale, only to collapse to one knee from her adrenaline wearing off. Blake walked up to Ruby.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Blake? What's going on?"

"This girl just came out of the forest… she looks like she has been through a lot…"

"Can't we just leave her? Ozpin said that we will die out here if we are afraid to fight the Grimm… why not let the Grimm take care of her instead?"

"Because that's a bitch type of thing to say and I really want to punch you in the face for it… as Huntresses, we help those that need it… right now, she needs our help…" Yang helped Ruby up with Blake and started walking towards the cliff. Weiss followed behind.

After a while, they had made it back with their relics. Ozpin raised an eye at the sight.

"Is there a reason why you brought this girl here?"

"Yeah… she looks like she's been through hordes of Grimm… and needs help… she can barely move…" Yang stated. Ozpin nodded and had them take Ruby to the infirmary. They laid Ruby on one of the beds. The nurses went into action immediately. Yang, Blake, and Weiss left the infirmary.

"Goodwitch is going to oversee their progress…"

"Yeah…"

Glynda watched over the nurses.

"What happened to her?"

"From what we can tell, she has severe fatigue… she is also severely dehydrated… maybe Faunus… we removed the helmet and saw she had wolf ears…"

"How bad is this?"

"Five years of barely eating and barely anything to drink… I'm surprised she lasted this long truthfully…"

"Really? How old is she?"

"I'd say about… fifteen years old…"

"Fifteen?! Who would let someone this young be on their own?!" Glynda saw helmet and groaned. "Of course… the one who would be insane enough to take on an entire army by herself and an old enemy… I'll have to inform Ozpin on this…" Glynda left the infirmary and went to Ozpin's office. As soon as they hooked up an IV bag, Ruby opened her eyes and shot up. The nurses were shocked and surprised. Ruby blinked and looked at them.

"U-Umm… Where… am I?" Ruby asked cautiously.

"Beacon Academy… you had passed out during initiation…"

"I've never heard of this place… I was… heading south…" Ozpin entered the room.

"Hello there." Ruby looked at him.

"Hello? Do I know you?"

"No… I don't know you either… But I knew your mother…"

"You do?! Where is she? Who is she? Can I please meet her?"

"Unfortunately, Summer is on a very important mission…" Ruby looked disappointed.

"She isn't my mother…"

"What do you mean?"

"Summer is more of my aunt than my mother… she found me in Patch and couldn't find anyone alive there… she took me away to protect me… all while looking for my mother… she never told me her name though…"

"Than what's your name?"

"Oh! Right! My name is Ruby Reaper Fall-Rose… Summer added Rose to it because she considers me a part of her family…"

"Fall… I've heard that name before… sadly, I can't remember that name all too well… But can you please explain to me why you showed up during the initiation?"

"It took me two years to get here… Summer wanted me to go to Vale… so… here I am… but I don't know if I'm in Vale…"

"How did it take you two years?"

"Grimm and trying to gather food… then make camp every night…"

"So you have fought against the Grimm for about, two years?"

"Not two years… I'd say about… 7 years I believe…"

"I'm impressed… by the way, you are in Vale… I would like you to join my school, however…"

"Why? That's not why I came to Vale…"

"Then why did you?"

"To find my mother… why else?"

"Yet coming here would give you all the information you need…"

"Really?"

"Yes, as long as I give you permission of course…"

"I guess I need to take this risk then…" Ruby sighed and got up. She removed the IV and put on the helmet. "Alright, I'll take you up on that…"

"Excellent! Now, we need to judge you're fighting skill… and since there is a team that is missing a member and partner for one of them, you'll fight her… is that alright?"

"Yeah… I'm ready to fight…" Ruby stretched a bit and rested her hands on the hilts of her swords. Ozpin smiled.

"Good! I'll let her know… and I hope you don't mind an audience…"

"Not at all…" Ruby follows Ozpin to the arena. Weiss was standing there in the middle. There were people sitting in the stands. Ruby found it a bit odd that this was done in a matter of minutes. She shrugged it off as if it was nothing. Ozpin had Weiss stand at one end while Ruby stood at the other.

"Now then, we have a new student joining Beacon, and since Ms. Schnee here does not have a partner, and her team is missing a fourth member, I figured she should join them… and since miss Schnee is currently the leader, I figured this fight will be the final decision on who is going to be the leader of their team… Tournament Rules apply… Now get ready…" Weiss took out a rapier and pointed it at Ruby. Ruby on the other hand, kept her swords sheathed. "Begin!"

Weiss charged at Ruby. Ruby pulled out her left sword and parried Weiss. She quickly pulled out the right sword and swung at Weiss. Weiss evade and sent an ice Dust attack towards Ruby. Ruby shifted the swords to two large blades with hollow lines going along the edge and the sides. Ruby moved out of the way and cut ice with one of the swords. The hollowed lines turned a light blue. She then swung the sword towards Weiss horizontally, sending a beam of light. Weiss avoided the attack. Ice crystals were left in the beam's wake.

Weiss then sent a beam of fire. Ruby caught the blaze in the other sword, red light flowed through the hollowed lines. Ruby sent a blast of fire at Weiss, who evaded it again. _She can use those monstrosities to absorb the power of Dust based attacks?! I guess disarming her would be the best bet…_ Weiss thought. She made a quick dash towards Ruby and quickly disarmed her. She check her aura level and looked up at Ruby's. She smiled seeing Ruby's aura half way down. Her aura barely even went down at all.

"Looks like you aren't as strong as you look!"

"Now, what are you going to do without your weapons, Ms. Rose?" Ruby glared at Ozpin briefly before sighing.

"I guess holding back isn't really an option… Fallen Rose isn't in my possession… I have to use my other weapon…" Ruby reached behind her back and grabbed the case. Weiss got ready and charged at Ruby. Before Weiss could even hit Ruby, she was suddenly on the ground and her aura was close to the red. Ruby stood before her wielding a scythe. Its blade serrated and sharp. She stood there like the Grim Reaper before cutting down her next target. Ruby pointed the end of the barrel of the scythe at Weiss' face. "I suggest you yield…"

"Not a chance…" Weiss quickly got up and used glyphs to get behind Ruby, swinging her sword. She had cut burning rose petals. Weiss was hit in the gut by the back of Ruby's scythe at full force. Weiss hit the ground and dropped her rapier. Glynda called the match, naming Ruby the victor and the new team leader of what was now called, Team RWBY. Weiss was furious about losing but couldn't voice her objection. Ruby twirled her scythe a bit before attaching it onto her back. She picked up her swords and released the Dust in them. They shrunk back into normal swords before being sheathed. Ruby walked over to Weiss and offered her a hand.

"Here… let me help you up…" Weiss took Ruby's hand. Ruby helped Weiss up. "Sorry if I went too far… I'm not good at holding back…" Weiss sighed.

"It's alright… Your team leader now…"

"Yeah… I wasn't expecting it really…" Ruby helped Weiss to the infirmary.

"I think I miss judged you…"

"Yeah… I get that a lot… I was first seen as frail just because I may or may not have eaten a lot… by all Grimm for that matter…"

"I think all the Grimm think like that…"

"No… not all Grimm actually… some show a lot of intelligence…"

"Really? Which types?"

"Any… but the Goliaths are the main ones that I've seen… they know if they kill a human, many more will come… they migrate and stay away from humans… yet still stay around a place with negative emotions…"

"You seem to know a lot…"

"Yeah… Summer taught me a lot of things…"

"She seems like she taught you a lot…"

"Yeah… Though… she made me a promise… she had no choice but to break it since she's on a mission…"

"Must be a very important mission…"

"Yeah… she didn't tell me what it was though…."

"Classified most likely…"

"Yeah…"


End file.
